The Waco daily examiner. [volume] (Waco, Tex.) 187?-1888, 1887-10-18
constitutional Privileges.

cit Kou, or rather cnOOW pACn Cltl2en
with certain inalicnable rights which
cannot be taken away from him either
with or without his own consent, eX-
cept upon u rude violation of the
fundamental law itself, by laws OF
doubtful constitutlonality, or rather
which are certainly violative of con-
stitutional philosophy and rape of
the solemn guarantees originally
given, or rather plain disre-
gard of all law under the gOadings of
a fanaticlsm Is unressoning a. the
mad phrensy of british beasts One
OF these guaranteed rights is the
privilege of ordering ones life as
seemeth to the citizen best, and no
power has yet been found able to
trample over the constitution and
destroy this right, so long as In tho
exercise OF 1T no injury is inflicted
upon others. In this view OF the
privileges conferred and set forth in
the bill OF rights prohibitory, sun
day and pistol laws are clearly un-
CONSTITUTIONAL and upon the appica-
ton of competent tests must fall TO
the ground and come to naught. a
man may certainly grow grapes,
make wine, aye, and sell it too, and
still there is no law that can touch
him at least, no law which will pass
rigid examination i'll the light of
the constitution. SO TOO ia it
of the Sunday law. The constitution
guarantees expressly to every citizen
tho right to worship God rs he
pleases, or refrain altogether from all
worship if that pleases him better.
TO force all men to regard the chris
tian sabbath would be to force all
men to act as though they believed i'll
the tenets and faith of the christian.
This won't do, it the case Is carried
before the supreme legal tribunal OF
the nation. 1t is false interpretation
a strained and unnatural construction
of the law regulating the rights Of
C )mmunitles rs against those of the
Individual himself. Take the pistol law
OF Texas and subject it to such u test
Us that furnished by the constitution
OF the United States which guaran
tees to each citizen OF this nation the
right to bear arms This right is eX
pressly set forth In the plainest lam
guage, 1t is unequivocally clear, un-
Then how state legis-
lature may interfere with it and set it
aside in the cavalier way that ours
has, we tor one cannot see. 1t may
be good thing to do, but still we in
sist that it is unc unconstitutional to at
tempt it. In this way we are grad
ually parting with so many of the in
herent natural rights of the citizen
that after while there will be
nothing left worth contendiug for.
All this species of legislation Is not
only unconstitutional, but it is also
From the very foun-
dation of the government, down TO
this good day the democratic party
has contcnded, not only against the
of the constitution, but
also against these assaults upon the
rights of the citizen. 1t can never
abandon the position. 1t must con
inuo the course to the end, for when
over the party rccedes it is no longer
1t Is well for the people
hat some influence hA- stood between
he eucnroachments upon the rights
IF thepeOple in this way, and the Ill
innate end sought. If this influence
lad not existed we had had, long ere
hi,, confusion worse contonnded,
and chaos. If We admit that
he law has the right TO say what we
must do with our own, what we shall |
r shall not eat or drink. what day
We must ro =, and what we must do |
IN that d9y, ana say also mat man III |
Iesdly peril of his life may not take
measures to defend it-how long viii |
be until the consciences OF the peo-
lie will he bound in chains,
nd race of mere slaves
eplace the freemen of to-
o-day? We cannot be freemen if we
ave no personal rights worth guard
ne, or which we may exercise or not
S we please. II our drink is prescrib-
I'd, il our reli gion is blocked out for
IS, and if the law disarms us at will
nd without our having violated it
nd forfeited our right to bear arms
n what are we free: In what are We
etter of than are the serfs of Russia
r our own slaves of half century
ince;
These are questions which it be-
doves us az ircemeu free citizens to |